The allegations, contained in a 15-page letter addressed to city leaders, include that Cornelius Chief Paul Rubenstein and Assistant Chief Joe Noffsinger have covered up officer misconduct and created a "hostile and adversarial work environment." Sgt. Shawn Watts and officers Doug Schuetz, Mark Jansen and Miguel Monico signed the letter.

In the document, the officers allege rampant "ongoing corruption" in the department.

Rubenstein declined to comment on the letter.

Following The Oregonian's request for the document, the city issued a press release Tuesday stating that the Local Government Personnel Institute is helping with a city investigation. City Manager Rob Drake said prior to the request that the city had not planned to release the Oct. 16 letter because officials cannot talk about the ongoing investigation.

Sgt. Watts, the letter says, has notified Rubenstein and Noffsinger of four incidents regarding DeHaven's conduct. Allegations against DeHaven include: falsely attributing statements related to probable cause for an arrest to another police officer in a report, lying to a supervisor about a job performance matter, disregarding a call for service and writing false entries related to the call.

Watts reportedly spoke to Rubenstein about one incident, and the chief told him he was not concerned because it was a "perception issue." Noffsinger reportedly later told Watts "he agreed that Officer DeHaven had lied but that he was directed by Chief Rubenstein not to address it."

The officers allege Rubenstein has covered-up DeHaven's conduct because of his longtime friendship with DeHaven's father.

In June 2009, a resident told Foster that a tan sedan pulled in front of him in Cornelius, and he followed the sedan "probably too close," according to a memorandum Foster wrote about the incident. The sedan flipped on red-and-blue lights, in the corners of the back window, and pulled the resident over. A man, dressed in "cutoffs" and a shirt, approached the resident, according to the memo.

The resident said the man, who was wearing a lanyard with police identification, started "yelling at him telling him how poorly he was driving and berated him," the resident told Foster. The resident, who was not issued a citation, questioned whether the man was truly a police officer. After the stop, the resident watched the sedan pull over a garbage truck in Forest Grove, the memo says.

Cornelius police confirmed Rubenstein made the traffic stops, the memo says, but Forest Grove officers could not find the incidents documented.

The letter notes that Monico is the only Latino police officer in Cornelius, and Noffsinger has made "racially insensitive" comments and jokes to him, the letter alleges.

Noffsinger, while working as a sergeant and before Monico joined the department, placed a poster of John Wayne in the locker room that read: "Just why the hell should I have to press 1 for English," the letter says. Monico complained to Rubenstein about the poster, the letter says, and the chief ignored the issue. Noffsinger reportedly took the poster down after Monico asked him to do so, and he apologized to the officer.

An informant reportedly told a Forest Grove police officer in April that Rubenstein "was seen associating with a woman at her Forest Grove residence," a known drug house, the officers allege.

The Forest Grove officer told Cornelius Sgt. Watts that his superiors -- unnamed in the letter -- instructed him not to complete a normal report, which would be searchable in an area database. Instead, he reportedly was told to write a memorandum and submit it to the Forest Grove police administration.

After the officer submitted his memo, which included the information about Rubenstein, then-Forest Grove Police Chief Kerry Aleshire talked to the officer, mentioned his friendship with Rubenstein and said the Cornelius chief would not engage in such behavior, the letter alleges.

The officer later discovered that his report, which contained a paragraph about Rubenstein, had been modified, and the part about Rubenstein was taken out, the letter claims. The report was submitted to the county's narcotics team.

On Monday, Washington County District Attorney Bob Hermann emailed state police to ask that they look into a Forest Grove police investigation involving a member of the Cornelius Police Department because of "some concerns regarding the handling" of the investigation.

Hermann also wrote that Forest Grove Police Chief Janie Schutz, who last month took the helm of the department, joined him in the request. Schutz said last week she placed an officer on administrative leave, but wouldn't provide the officer's name or rank.